My son and I had a boo-boo that caused the wheel trim to break in half so I went ahead and took it off and now I am thinking of just removing ALL of the running board and wheel well trim and if there is more unsightly "cancer" under any of it like in the one picture, I will then cover it up as neatly as possible with tape like the salesman did so as to hide it from a buyer, LOL! (I'm not selling the van, they did this so I didn't know it til I got to where it was for sale after already agreeing on a price)


What do you'll think? There are plenty of cracks and broken parts as well as the remainder of the part we broke hanging in a way that I am surprised it handles the weight of anyone stepping on it. (Which can be seen in the far left of the top photo, a screw that got lost in the process of remove the other broken part)

I don't like the extra boost it will take to lug my luckily skinny butt up into the van without the step but I have also priced new running boards for possible future option if it gets too much to take.

The weather is beautiful here, let me hear some opinions ASAP PLEASE??? Thanks!!!!!!

 

Mine too were cracked. I got rid of them when I got my van painted.
I did find that they made a lot of noise - creeks, groans and pops. As you can see, I pulled the steps out of the boards.

I was also really surprised how much paint they rubbed off of the rocker panels. If I let it go any long, I am sure rust would have taken hold.

Here is my van without.

 

Damn! That looks just fine (and good) without the trim and boards!
Step out of the running board? I'm not aware of there being one under mine?

 

My van's front and rear black bumper looks just like your's, all faded out. Been considering trying this
http://www.autogeek.net/blackagain.html

But just spraying it with tire shine for now.

 

There may not be. I had the plastic ones. They had aluminum steps built into them that I had to actually cut out to reuse. I just wanted to make a point where the step came from

I am going to try the turtle wax stuff. I have a bottle of it now. Ill let you know how it goes...

and Thanks! the van has been good lately.

 

......

 

Hey, even better than a 10 dollar bottle of something that would have the same effect. Thanks for the tip!

Be careful with that Turtle Wax stuff, I ruined a set of motorcycle rims, spokes to be exact. The spokes aren't the same material as the rim itself and the rim shine formula of theirs ate the coating off.

 

I have had the same thing happen to me with Castrol SuperClean. It took the clearcoat right off the wheels.

 

Seems like the home remedies and such always end up better than the marketed crap, LOL!
I used whatever brand of wheel shine, supposed to just spray on and go but then I looked back over it and it had drippy like and sticky spots so I had to re wet it and wipe it off which you aren't supposed to have to do. Sheesh!